July 18, 2011

Plagued by Plot?—Try Logic!

How do writers deal with plotting? And how do they deal with being stuck with the plot? Find out what these squiggles to the left mean and how they can help solve the most intractable plot problem in my essay at the blog Buried Under Books.

Barbara DaCosta—Writer & Author

Barbara DaCosta writes for children and adults alike. Her children's picture book debut is Nighttime Ninja,illustrated by Caldecott Award-winning artist Ed Young (Little, Brown 2012) .Her debut as a mystery writer came with the short story "Cabin 6" in the anthology Resort to Murder, edited by Minnesota Crime Wave. Meanwhile, she's putting the finishing touches on her novel Death by the Depot—the tale of a murder, the search for a missing man, and the uncovering of a nest of crime at a nursing home—features Thea Franco, a hardworking, overly curious, detail-oriented researcher with a stable of quirky clients---divas, dealers, teachers, historians, waitresses, and lawyers. Sometimes, though, Thea finds she’s taken on way more than she can handle….

• By the way, DaCosta rhymes with "the coast-ah," and is spelled DaCosta (i.e., not Da Costa, Dacosta, or DeCosta).• You can reach Barbara at barbaradacostaauthor at gmail dot com (substitute symbols).

• Your patronage of independent bookstores means you'll get diversity of book choices, highly knowledgeable staff, help the environment, and support your local community and local economy. See the American Booksellers Association website for more compelling facts.